1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to portable electronic devices with built-in digital cameras, and more particularly to a portable electronic device with a built-in digital camera which enables a user to conveniently take a photo of himself/herself.
2. Prior Art
Portable electronic devices with built-in cameras are rapidly gaining widespread use. For example, the mobile phone model no. 7650 marketed by Nokia is growing in popularity. The camera is positioned on a back of the mobile phone, and provides users with instant photography capability. Before actually taking a photo of a desired object, a user can look at a preview of the photo on the front display of the user interface of the mobile phone. However, the user cannot look at a preview of a photo of himself/herself. This is because when the user points the back of the camera at himself/herself, the display on the front of the mobile phone is not visible. Such a photo of oneself taken without any preview is liable to be bad. Accordingly, many solutions have been developed to solve this problem.
One solution uses a rotary lens. An example is the mobile phone model no. SCH-X199 marketed by Samsung. The mobile phone includes a base cover and a flip cover hinged together by a flip cover hinge. A rotary lens is set at one end of the flip cover hinge. In use, the lens can be rotated to point to an object or to the user himself/herself. All images can be previewed on the same display on the flip cover. However, the mechanism of this solution is relatively complex.
Another solution uses not only a rotary lens, but also a rotary display. An example is the mobile phone model no. SCH-X319 marketed by Samsung. The mobile phone includes a base cover, a flip cover, and a flip cover hinge between the base cover and the flip cover. The flip cover has a display embedded therein, and is mounted on a swivel hinge. The swivel hinge has two ends. One end has a rotary lens contained therein, and the other end is mounted to the flip cover hinge. With this structure, the lens can rotate with the flip cover hinge, and the display can rotate not only about the flip cover hinge but also about the swivel hinge. Therefore any desired image can be conveniently previewed through the display. However, the mechanism of this solution is more complex than the above-described solution, and correspondingly costly.
A third solution uses two displays. An example is the mobile phone model no. N8 marketed by NEC (Nippon Electric Company). The mobile phone has two displays, a main display and an auxiliary display. The main display is embedded in an inside surface of a flip cover. The auxiliary display is arranged on an outside surface of the flip cover, together with a lens set thereat. An image can be previewed through either the main display or the auxiliary display. However, this solution is relatively costly.
A fourth solution uses an accessorial device. An example is the mobile phone model no. GD88 marketed by Panasonic. The mobile phone includes a flip cover, which has a display and a lens provided thereon. The display is provided on an inside surface of the flip cover, and the lens is set on an outside of the flip cover. The mobile phone also includes a convex preview window, which is set below the lens in an outer surface of the flip cover. In use, images of other objects are previewed through the display, while an image of the user himself/herself is previewed through the preview window below the lens. However, the preview provided by the preview window is somewhat different from the image actually framed by the lens. Therefore self-photography is prone to result in bad photos.
Therefore, what is needed is a portable electronic device with a built-in digital camera which overcomes the above-described problems and shortcomings.